Miami Hurricanes men overcome sloppy first half to beat Southern Miss

Southern Miss men’s basketball coach Jay Ladner is mighty impressed with the Miami Hurricanes.

Following Miami’s 88-64 win over visiting Southern Miss on Saturday, Ladner said he believes the Hurricanes are an NCAA Tournament team. Further, Ladner said he sees Miami as a team that could win a “few” rounds in the tournament and maybe more.

That’s huge praise for a Miami program that went 7-24 last season.

This season, under rookie head coach Jai Lucas, Miami has already exceeded that win total with an 8-2 record.

Then again, Lucas – who turned 37 on Friday – ripped into his team at halftime on Saturday as Miami and Southern Miss played to a 34-34 draw.

That certainly wasn’t good enough for the Hurricanes, who entered as 21½-point favorites.

“We weren’t playing hard enough,” Miami freshman Shelton Henderson said. “(Southern Miss) was playing with a chip on their shoulders. We needed to play with urgency. We needed to rebound and play defense.”

Things were so bad for Miami in the first half that Tre Donaldson missed a dunk with nobody near him. Miami also trailed 8-0 as the Hurricanes missed their first four shots and sprinkled in three turnovers.

In the second half, Miami used a 7-0 run to surge ahead 45-40 with 15:10 remaining. That run was extended to 26-6 as Miami put the game away.

Of note, Miami’s Malik Reneau – who led all scorers with 21 points -- was on the bench for much of that run.

Instead, the Hurricanes were led in those key minutes by 6-8 freshman reserve Timo Malovec, who made 4-of-10 on 3-pointers and finished with 16 points.

Malovec, who is from Slovakia, busted Southern Miss’ zone as he made more than half of Miami’s seven total 3-pointers.

“I mentioned to my assistant coach that we have to get to Eastern Europe and find some of those cats,” said Ladner after his 5-4 team had its four-game win streak broken. “(Malovec) is listed as a freshman. That’s the oldest-looking freshman I’ve ever seen.

“We don’t have any guys like that in Mississippi, I can tell you that, and I say that with great respect.

“That young man forced us out of a zone that had been effective for us.”

Miami also got 14 points from Tru Washington; and 12 from Henderson.

In addition, Donaldson posted a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 assists. Ernest Udeh Jr. added nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Other than the final minute, the Hurricanes played just seven players as three of their key reserves were out due to injuries: Dante Allen; Marcus Allen (no relation); and Noam Dovrat.

But Malovec, who made 5-of-11 shots overall, was the key.

“Shooting is my role on the team,” Malovec said. “I’m one of the best shooters on the team. We have guys who are great playmakers. I hope I can get my points from their playmaking ability.”

Henderson, meanwhile, admitted that the early start at noon and the small crowd may have contributed to Miami’s first-half malaise.

“It was our first 12 o’clock game on a Saturday,” Henderson said. “We’re banged up, a lot going through our minds.

“It was very clear (at halftime that Lucas) was really mad. His speech was very quick, straight to the point. We had to go back out there and fight and not get punked. We weren’t playing to our standard.

“In the second half, we showed who we are.”

Added Malovec: “Our energy coming into the game was really bad, but we switched that in the second half. We improved defensively, made the simple plays and hit open shots.”